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Auto Focus

By Julie Cridler
Senior Market Analyst, IRN Inc.
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At IRN, we’re keeping a close watch on the emerging electric vehicle (EV) segment of the automotive industry, as that has significant potential to impact what the overall industry will look like in the future. There are several pending launches of market-worthy electric vehicles that will be a reality before the year’s end.

In addition to the more mainstream offerings in the EV segment, there are some start-up companies with vehicles that are a bit more of a stretch for both the auto industry and potential consumers to embrace. It is interesting to look at some of the companies and the obstacles they must overcome and try to determine what their futures might be like. One such company that embodies the uniqueness, as well as the uncertainty, of the electric vehicle segment is Aptera, based in Vista, Calif.

A quirky vehicle

Vista, Calif. based electric vehicle manufacturer Aptera is marketing its 2e, a three-wheeled, two-person EV capable of traveling 100 miles on a charge. IMAGE COURTESY OF APTERA

The Aptera 2e (“2” because it seats two people and “e” because it has an electric powertrain) is a three-wheeled lithium ion battery-powered vehicle that defies all concepts of a conventional automobile. The philosophy behind the design is to maximize aerodynamics in order to squeeze out every last mile of range between charges. In its current design iteration, the 2e is capable of going 100 miles between charges.

Looking more like an airplane than a car, the production vehicle will have a drag coefficient of 0.15, making it the most aerodynamic vehicle in the history of car production. The 2e is expected to cost between $25,000-$45,000. The company’s goal is to have 100,000 Apteras on the road by 2015. Production and delivery of the first cars was originally supposed to have taken place in late 2009, but has not yet started.

Aptera is an especially good example of the challenges experienced by a start-up company trying to make its way in the automotive industry. Although Aptera’s list of investors includes big names like Google and Idealab, financing has proven to be a major obstacle. Development of the vehicle has been outpacing fund raising. This begs the question of whether or not there is an adequate market for this space-age vehicle. The company does, however, have a cult following and has secured 4,000 advance deposits (fully refundable) from would-be purchasers.

An uncertain future

There has always been a fair degree of doubt over whether the Aptera 2e will ever make it into production. For some, the doubt began with an initial glance at the vehicle, which is so far afield of a traditional automobile that it will no doubt be daunting for many buyers. Nonetheless, Aptera has managed to stick around for nearly four years thus far. But, are their days numbered?

Minus the needed financing to actually produce the cars, Aptera focused on the Auto XPrize competition as a forum for validating the concept and design of the Aptera 2e. That, however, did not go as well as it could have. For example, one of the competition tests required the vehicles to change lanes at a minimum speed of 45 mph (on a straight pass) with no throttle or brakes to control the vehicle. For Aptera, it took 40 tries to complete the test satisfactorily — and on one attempt, a door even popped open. In some of the other tests, the 2e squeaked by at best.

Despite lackluster performance in the trials, Aptera remained a contender in the competition, and put on a smile about the company’s launch prospects. There is other evidence, however, that their prospects might be dimming. The company is still searching for additional funding in order to be able to bring the car to production. Any prize money from the XPrize will not even be a drop in the bucket, and there is uncertainty about the likelihood of DOE financing that Aptera had been hoping for. There are rumblings in the blogs and media that the launch date, which went from 2010 to 2011, will very likely be pushed to 2012. The reservations section of Aptera’s website asks for deposits, but promises only that the company is working hard to make the vehicle available as soon as possible. The series of unfortunate missteps and happenings will no doubt be very damaging to the sales prospects of a vehicle that was already going to require a leap of faith for buyers to accept. Nonetheless, the company continues to be upbeat about their future and the vehicle has recently been shown at events in major cities like New York and Chicago. Stay tuned.

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• alternative vehicle
• auto focus
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• irn
• julie cridler
• manufacturing